Ramadan has come to an end and I am thinking of how best to move forward with my training and how I can transition into the weeks and months to come as I continue to prepare for November 20th.

I was able to speak with two of the cross country coaches at my university’s athletic department and one of the coaches brought up the idea of running 30 miles in a day by splitting it up into two sessions. Thinking about it, he’s right. A marathon takes place in one day, less than that really. If I’m going to do in November, it makes sense to do it before hand. Sitting here typing this I am thinking about how may weeks before hand I should try to do the 30 miles. Maybe the last week of October so that I will have time to make any adjustments in distance per day, pace, training etc… Until August 28th at least, I won’t do more than three miles at a time.

I didn’t run this week and I don’t have a record of my runs to look back and refer to.

I do hope to keep up with the ballet stretches as my cross training once a week.

I had been doing ballet stretches which sounds as though it doesn’t require much effort.

If you’re not engaging all your muscles it isn’t.

However, once you do, it really is a work out.

I look forward to getting back out for a run.

I think that as a result of having lived in NYC and having grown accustomed to walking for miles I should be able to bounce back to regular excercise and hit the track. During my first week of training, my goal was to match the mileage put forward in an online training guide I found from a running magazine.

I hit the mark and the next step is now in front of me. While thinking about what shoes I need to get, I took a look at the shoes that I usually where, not for excercise but just walking around.

I noticed from the left shoe that I must be leaning outward when my foot strikes the ground.

The right shoe doesn’t have the same slant to it so I may get basic lightweight running shoes and but some sort of insole for the left foot.I’m not sure if that throws off my posture.

Maybe that’s why, until recently, it was only my left knee that was giving me problems.

At the very least,since I know now that I don’t need as much correction for my right foot as I do for my left I’ll be able to pair of sneakers that are better than the huge new balances I used to use.

Those jokers were expensive too! I bought them online when I should have gone into a running store.

On August 1st, I sat down to post an entry to my personal blog and began thinking about the exercise that has become one of my favorites.

Running has been a part of my life off and on since 2008 and now I am moving forward with preparing for my first Marathon.

This is the perfect way for me to transition into my next year.

My birthday is coming up soon, I am getting ready to resume my undergraduate studies at Howard University in Washington,DC and I am writing a play which I plan to submit later next year.

I am changing my course of study to Nutrition Science and taking steps to prepare for medical studies.

That’s a whole lot, so why not train for a marathon as well?! This year has been full of a lot of ups and downs.

I’ve had to put quite a few people out of my life.

I feel a sense of relief and regret at the same time.

I regret that I had ever allowed myself to overlook the flashing red light that says, Stop! distance yourself from this situation, this person NOW!

I did not intend for this post to take such a personal turn but if I share my story, maybe someone else will find strength.

I am the child of a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

Unfortunately that pain was recycled and aimed with incredible precision at both me an my brother.

Verbal put downs, scathing criticism and at times physical abuse.

As you can imagine, self esteem was a problem.

However, I have decided to end the cycle of abuse.

I have learned the haaaaard way that engaging with someone who you love who abuses you is not beneficial to you or to them.

You are allowing yourself to be treated in a way that you do not deserve and you are enabling this person’s behavior.

That type of behavior is because of them, not you.

In all likelihood, that person is deeply dissatisfied with their own situation.

Miserable people tend to treat people miserably.

More or less satisfied people who look after their own well being, financially,emotionally,physically, etc… tend to treat other people well. So, to sum things up, yes, I know what it is to be on the receiving end of someone who has not been guided towards or had access to a constructive way to work through their own trauma. But, I moved forward from that, partially through education and employment and partially through sheer will.

I am not the only one capable of doing so.

Moving on. Via the wonder that is the world wide web, I am signed up to run the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20th.

In that I am simultaneously beginning marathon training and fasting for Ramadan, I thought it would be interesting to share my experiences with The Health Blogger readers.

I am 26 years old and in moderately good shape.

I was referred to as ‘skinny face’ earlier today but I actually have a bit farther to go to be at a health weight and shed excess pounds.

I’ll set a goal here and now: 20 pounds lost by November 20th.

I refuse to be obsessed with checking a scale so I’ll get around to weighing myself whenever I do.

That may not happen until the day off. There are a few things to which I am definitely looking forward. The Rocky dance for one.

A close second is the encouragement that, I hope, will come as I make my way through the course.

I hope to finish with a time of about 6.5 hours.

I would like to share with THB that my current running pace is about 15 minutes per mile.

I am by no means a highly trained runner here.

I just decided that I am going to prepare step by step, week by week.

Last week was the beginning of my training and I was somewhere between 14-15 miles.

My first day, I did not have an adequate suhoor, pre dawn meal and by early afternoon I was lying down.

One of the few benefits of my current (temporary) unemployment. I am basing my training off of a 16 week training guide in which Monday is supposed to be XT thirty minutes.

I read that as ‘extreme’ and was not sure with that meant so I just did 3 miles, at an easy pace, some walking and some jogging.

As I’m not having three meals a day until late this month, I am not pressuring myself to run the full distance each day.

I don’t have health coverage so I cannot risk passing out.

I mean that for real.

I think XT may mean cross training.

The lake where I run has a hill in the surrounding park area that doesn’t look to intimidating and I don’t have to stray far from the running/walking/biking path.

That’s good because I don’t do the woods.

If something happened I could not tell anyone because they would all say, what in the world were you doing in the woods in the first place.

I could also do some ballet stretches, which I greatly enjoy by the way.

I’ll share the results of this next week of my training exploits on Monday. Thank you for joining me during the early part of this journey.

Kristine Scott

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A little bit about me:

Working hard now so I can work from home whenever I become a wife and a mother.

I learn on my own but I’ll be getting my freedom papers from Howard University.

After earning a Bachelors of Science in Nutritional Science I want to globetrot for the summer and go on to medical school.

I am currently training for the Philadelphia Marathon in November.

Excercise in the Kristine-eese language is doing something great for yourself every day. Twenty minutes of two hours, doesn’t matter.

Depending on our level of discipline and adherence to diet principles/goals, if we even have any, we may tend to “drift” off track at times, so what do we do in such an instance?

I guess we could just ignore it and wish it never happened, and become depressed and make ourselves feel guilty, right?

Or we could take a proactive approach and not feel so guilty?

The latter resonates better with me!

So here is a list of my four things to do when you overeat/over-indulge in something a little too much:

Digestive Enzymes

I can’t emphasise the benefits of taking a good digestive enzyme. Our food is so processed, even the so-called “healthy” alternatives (which can sometimes be even worse!) My personal favourite digestive enzyme supplement has to be the vegan digestive enzyme by solgar, you can either swallow them or chew them (don’t worry, they don’t have any bad aftertaste). These will help digestive your food and hopefully allow your body to assimilate the nutrients more efficiently, putting less strain on your system.

Walk a 100 steps

I read this somewhere a long time ago in a book about Chinese medicine and Middle Eastern medicine, it makes the food sit in the bottom of the stomach apparently. Either way I like this philosophy as it helps avoid the too relaxed feeling and sluggishness most commonly associated with eating too much (due to the endorphin production associated with high fat/carb meals)

Peppermint tea

Having peppermint tea at least half an hour after eating is great! It helps with digestion of food, especially fats, by making the gallbladder release bile in order to break fat down into fatty acids. It’s also great for acne prone skin and general wellbeing.

Honey

When I had really bad acne (or so I thought), I started taking a teaspoon of honey before and after I ate – you can imagine the looks I got! Honey is an AMAZING substance! Wow, truly a superfood in my opinion. If you can get your hands on pure, raw, unfiltered, unheated honey, then by all means GET IT! Honey has amazing effects on your stomach and body as a whole. Whenever I’ve had a stomach ache, I’ve always slightly “overdosed” on some honey (say 7 tsps) and within 30 minutes I’m all fine (apart from the final visit to the bathroom).

Okay, so I hear you ask, do we do all of these at once?

Well depending on how naughty you have been, yes and no!You could pick and mix.For me, if I’m really paranoid that I may get a spot or two, I would usually have a digestive enzyme before or during my meal (or even at the end). Have a teaspoon (maybe two if I’ve been really bad) of honey after the meal. Walk 100 steps (probably in the house) and have a peppermint tea 30 minutes after eating.

I usually fall into this trap of “indulging” after training, where I feel slightly less guilty, though I try not to go off the track as things could go wild

What are your “remedies” for such a situation? Let us know in the comments below.

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